Family blog

Now that we are home, I'm going to be blogging from our family blog. I'm going to leave this blog up, because its helpful for people to look at different posts about different area's in the adoption process!
Click here to visit our family blog!

I need to decide what to do with this blog. Do I want to keep it or just post on my family blog now that our princess is home. There is definitely more pics and stuff on the family blog.

Today Arina had an ENT appointment and a swallow study.
First, the good news.. although her nasal airway is extremely small, he thinks its ok to try and sedate her without general anesthesia. Of course they'll be ready if she tries to pull anything, after all, she does have that extra chromosome that screams naughtiness!
The bad news.. she aspirates just about everything you put in her mouth! She aspirated nectar thick. They tried honey, but she just cried because she couldn't suck it out. They wanted to put an NJ down right then. I called my ped, and she wants to consult a few people before going forward with a tube. We hate to take a baby that is eating great, and create an oral aversion by taking her food away. And since we've only had her a week, we don't know if she gets frequent pneumonia from aspirating.
I'm torn, on one hand, I am the one that said she needed a swallow study. She sounds horrible when she eats, and super junky afterwards. On the other hand, I am enjoying feeding a baby again, and although we knew when we adopted another DS child, that these things can happen, I really don't want a tube for her! So the next couple of days will be some real soul searching on what to do for our princess!
Also, I want to get a double stroller, but I'm torn as to which kind to buy. I was leaning toward the jogging ones, they seem to be the lightest. Any double stroller is going to be bulky, but the front and back ones seem heavy and hard to handle. Also, I need to find one that will have room for all Jax equipment. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated if you have one you really like!

Arina "Rocks"

We took Arina to her ped today. Poor baby is probably thinking we are a little crazy right now. She got 3 different x-rays, 8 tubes of labs, 4 shots, and a TB test. They tested her for everything from HIV to Hepatitis.
Her chest x-ray doesn't look too bad (I'm used to seeing Jax x-ray) Her heart is not enlarged, but the shape is suspicious. She needs an echo stat, but it needs to be sedated, and since we know she has airway issues, we can't sedate her until we talk to ENT first. So we were able to squeeze her into ENT next Tuesday, then we can know if we need to do general anesthesia in the OR. They will also do a hearing test when they do the echo. Trying to get this girl fine-tuned!
She also needs a swallow study, she chokes like crazy when she eats, and I'm guessing she needs thickened milk.
But she is fitting in just fine. And the boys love her "trick"!

Baby Arina is home!

Daddy and baby came in at 10:28 last night. We didn't take any pics with our camera, as we were a tad busy.
She is an angel! She never fusses, you put her in her crib and she goes right to sleep! Her brothers are fighting over who gets to feed her, hold her, push her, whatever!
She hated her bath this morning, I'm not sure if she has never been in a bathtub, or if it was a bad experience at the orphanage, but she screamed the whole time!
I can't even explain how I feel. Its been 8 years since I gave a baby a bottle, fed them baby food, and sat them in a shopping cart! We are enjoying every minute of her!
Sorry for the first part of the video. Ray was coming, so I threw my video camera at my niece and told her to tape!
And sorry its so long, I don't know how to split it up.
Oh and the cutest thing. You'll see in the video Tanner is crying, I ask him whats wrong, and he says "I'm just so happy". It was the cutest thing ever!
The video looks better on our other blog, its not cut off like it is here.

Orphan no more!

Update from This morning:
They are coming home tomorrow! I'll let everyone know what time the flight comes in so if anyone wants to come. It will be evening, hopefully around 7.


Arina is no longer an orphan! I guess she hasn't been since court, but when she has to stay in the orphanage, she still seems like an orphan. She's outa there!!
It was so cool that the Browning family was there to meet their babies for the first time! I so remember that day, in that very room. Seeing Arina for the first time, and thinking she was so tiny!!
I got a phone call bright and early today, while I was still asleep. From a friend that Ray saw on facebook and asked her to call me and tell me to go skype with him. I had to wake the boys up, but as soon as I told them their baby sister was on the computer, they jumped right up.
They were loving seeing her, so close, making her sweet faces, and nodding at her hands. Oh I can almost feel her in my arms!
We are hoping he can find the right milk to give her. They give her porridge at the orphanage, so Ray didn't know what to give her. My ped said whole milk should be ok, and if she seems super spitty or gets diarrhea, then we could try soy. Wish daddy luck, as this is a little out of his league, he usually will let me decide that kind of stuff!
He's thinking he may be able to come home Wednesday. His facilitator thinks they can do the Embassy stuff in one day. She couldn't guarantee, so until I know tomorrow morning (5pm his time) I will wait to change his flights so I don't have to pay to change them twice.
Oh I can't even describe the feeling of knowing that daddy has her, and that soon she will be here. There's no euphoria like it!